Queen Elizabeth’s dazzling coronation dress is on display again in honor of herPlatinum Jubilee year— and this time the exhibition is sparklier than ever!
“It’s probably one of the most important dresses made in the 20th century — certainly a great piece of British design,” says Caroline de Guitaut, curator of the exhibition. “The combination of rich fabrics and beautiful embroideries was really Hartnell’s absolute signature and I think the greatest expression of all his career.”
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the day of the monarch’s coronation in 1953.The Print Collector/Getty
The Queen was very involved in the design process of the gown, which was created in the finest white duchesse satin, richly embroidered in a lattice-work effect with an iconographic scheme of floral emblems in gold and silver thread and pastel-colored silks and encrusted with seed pearls, sequins and crystals.
The Coronation Dress of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.Royal Collection Trust
Hartnell, who also made the Queen’s wedding dress in 1947, created eight sketches, but it was his ninth — which included floral emblems of the U.K. — that the Queen liked the most, but she did have some additional requests.
Sir Norman Hartnell’s original sketch of the chosen design.Royal Collection Trust
“She made two further suggestions to Hartnell, which were that the emblems should be embroidered in colored silks as well as the embellishments of pearls and beads. And also that he should incorporate the emblems of the nations of which she would become Queen, the independent states such as Australia and New Zealand and so on,” says de Guitaut.
Due to the nature of the embroidery, the dress is estimated to weigh at least 11 pounds.
Curator Caroline de Guitaut puts the finishing touches to the display at Windsor Castle.Royal Collection Trust
The exhibition, which runs from July 7 to September 26, also includes the Robe of Estate, which features intricate gold embroidery, and the monarch’s EIIR cipher.
With wheat ears and olive branches to symbolize prosperity and peace, it took 12 embroideresses, using 18 different types of gold thread more than 3,500 hours to complete.
The Coronation necklace.Royal Collection Trust
“One of the elements that I wanted to draw out of the centerpiece of this display which is, of course, Her Majesty’s coronation gown and robe, is how the dress really communicates messages and has an iconography which is entirely linked to the Queen’s role not just as head of the United Kingdom but also head of the Commonwealth nations,” says de Guitaut, deputy surveyor of the Queen’s Work’s of Art.
Queen Elizabeth.
“He had produced a daffodil, whereas actually, the emblem which should have been used is the leek, and so he had to go away and research the leek and make it look really beautiful, which I think he did!” says de Guitaut.
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source: people.com
